Cutie Mark

Main Character

Character 2

Character 3

Character 4

Full size is best size!
Felt like trying to draw something that didn't just have a neutral resting expression, because that's really my default and I don't really experiment or draw emotions and expressions that often. Always good to get some practice on expressions!
Neighpon is pretty much a mix of feudalistic and modern, and I imagine the role of the Shogun in times of war edges towards the modern side for the most part, except in cases of very important, large-scale battles. And in those instances, the Shogun shows up to fight for the country. I mean, even Celestia has been shown to fight in battles before.
...The Shogun doesn't have the power of an Alicorn, true, but I like to imagine that the power of moral and leadership are just as powerful as any old Alicorn magic, kthx.

Just kinda felt like drawing something cute and simple, so here's a baby Ochiru, how she might have looked right after her cherry blossom grove first bloomed. Featuring special summer edition!
I like to think the mask that serves as her face was able to mimic facial expressions so that her feelings could be conveyed like a normal pony/Yokai, but it became blank and still after her grove was destroyed. So now she has a perpetually empty expression on her face. Maybe if she ever gets some of her power back though, her mask will be able to smile like this again.

I seem to be getting a lot of inspiration from random snippets of Discord conversation, nowadays...
The topic of princess manes came up in a channel (you know, flowing, magical mystical type manes that Celestia and Luna have) and I got curious about trying to design one myself. Not on a princess, just on a regular pony. Wanted to differentiate it from Celestia and Luna's style, but it was surprisingly difficult to come up with a unique design. Because, well...how many ways can you do ethereal, perpetually flowing hair that doesn't end up flowing in gentle waves? Something fiery that sticks straight upwards I suppose, but I wanted princess-y.
Ended up with this design that I really like - the idea is the the top portion of her hair is sort of wrapped around towards the outside while the inside, flowing parts come forward. Not super important, but that was the idea behind it. I like how it turned out - another on the list for that theoretical adoption thing that I always mention but never get around to making, because lazy.

This one was a doozy. Nosk is an important figure in Ochiru's life, which is why I wanted to try drawing him. Plus, I wanted to challenge myself with both a spider, and a different species of yokai. Unfortunately, there really isn't a lot of unique features given to spider monsters in general, other than looking like spiders, so I was challenged to try and think of ways to make him look more unique and different from just an enormous spider.
Very pleased with how it ended up turning out! May have fudged the grey colors into mostly dark greys and black, but otherwise I like how it turned out. Definitely was a challenge - I've never drank anything remotely like this before, but I'm happy with the result!
Nosk (c) DerpRavener

The Shogunate of Neighpon has finally been filled with characters! The last addition is DerpRavener's character Iseiaisha, who serves as the Karasu of the Shogunate. Didn't have any details whatsoever for the character aside from colors, so I basically just designed what I thought a ninja-esque character might look like, complete with a ninja-esque outfit, lol.
Iseiaisha (c) DerpRavener

Did some drawings for a couple characters a while ago and never uploaded them, they just slipped my mind. Here's one of them - Pyro's bandit character Tetsu, part of an infamous bandit clan based in Neighpon. Testu's the...second oldest, if I remember correctly?
Tetsu Kāten (c) PyroBlaze

Or, as she's called nowadays, Ochiru.
I honestly wasn't expecting to app another character when I started designing this. I got in a discussion with someone the other day about Wolf Yokai designs, and I started wondering to myself how I might design another Okami - how I might use one or two elements from my first design, but change it up to make it look unique in and of itself, so that Kakushi's design didn't look like straight template/basis for a new design.
I ended up liking it enough to app a whole new character. I probably like it more than Kakushi's design, because the mask on this one gives it a more uneasy feeling, like something's not quite right about her (at least in my own opinion). Hopefully I'll get a chance to start RPing her soon - should be fun!

I'd always wanted to draw a MLP-style european unicorn, because I've always liked the look of them (deer-like, lion's tail, etc). Plus, a discussion in one of the Discord's chatrooms got me wondering if I could manage to color "oil spill" hair, which is basically a color palette meant to mimic an oil spill. Those two ideas eventually led me to sketch and then color out this design. Killing two birds with one creative stone!
Overall I like how she came out, especially considering I was kind of experimenting with both the bodily design and the color design. She might end up on that theoretical list of OCs for adoption that I've always meant to put up, since I have no immediate ideas or plans for her. On the other hand, I do like how she turned out, so I might end up apping herself.
For...something or other, I'm sure.

Xiu and Feng found a Fenghuang bird being harassed by hunters in one of their RPs together, a while back. I'd always intended to actually draw it because I didn't like any of the Fenghuangs I found using my Google-Fu skills, and I finally got around to finishing the lineart that's been sitting around in my folders for months.
Deciding on a color scheme took about an hour in and of itself, but I finally ended up deciding finishing it even if I didn't do any shading. Pretty pleased with the way it turned out in the end - I've always loved birds with that elegant, swan sort of look.

"[During the Sakura Spring Festival] Kyoma [...] becomes enveloped in a sea of pink."
Quite. Literally.
Might need to view full size to be able read it clearly!
Bellosh pointed out an RP he was in that mentioned Ryuichi, but this line struck me harder than anything else and inspired this silly little comic. Kyoma doesn't quite reach this level of cherry blossom fun, but...it's probably a near miss.
Yeah...
Ishi (c) PyroBlaze

Found out that it was someone's birthday yesterday. Also remembered that I'd been meaning to draw a certain character I've been RPing with, and haven't drawn yet.
That's a win win, in my books!
Fēng Yīnhǎitāo is a member of the Imperial Watch, and fiercely devoted to his Empress! Doesn't stop the ladies from swooning over him, though. Wasn't too much description to go off of, so I basically kind of sprinkled artistic license liberally over the whole thing. This is also a picture of Feng that doesn't include the charcoal he puts on his wing scales - I thought the picture would look better if they could shine and glimmer like a thousand little gold pieces under the sun~
Happy birthday, Prince Blueblood!
Feng (c) PrinceBlueblood

New Okami picture, for new Neighponese royal!
I'm glad to see Ryuichi's family has expanded a fair bit. I've always loved having OCs that are a part of a played OC family. Akarui here is the father, and he's so Iroh that it hurts.
In a good way~
Akarui Yozora (c) Mudbug

Wow it's been a while since I've uploaded, or even drawn, any art. Luckily, a certain someone was kind enough to remind me that there was a Neighponese royal who didn't have any Okami art yet...a fact that had to be quickly rectified.
Bellosh's character Kaze is Ryuichi's youngest sibling, and she's utterly adorable and full of Daw. This is not opinion, this is fact, kthx!
Jiyūna Soyokaze (c) Bellosh

Full size is best size, and shoddy background work is shoddy, lulz.
Been in another art slump recently, so random sketched out and ended up finishing a little snippet of Shogun-esque bonding between Ryuichi and his youngest sibling. I imagine he's patiently listening as she excitedly recounts a tale that includes whatever adventure she went on that day - a tale that is most undoubtedly filled to the brim with daaaaaaaaw.
Kate (c) Bellosh

Was thinking to myself the other day, that the last handful of pictures I've uploaded to my gallery have all had white backgrounds. I try to make sure I draw some pictures with non-white backgrounds every once in a while, just so I don't get in the habit of not bothering with backgrounds, and also because it's nice to see something other than blinding white when I'm browsing the pictures I've uploaded.
Which is when I decided to do another Okami picture, because I haven't done one in a while. And my new character helped with the inspiration, whaddya know!
Considering the different layers Xiu's mane has, I'm fairly pleased with how this one turned out. The simplistic background, too, I thought melded well into the "Okami" style feel. So overall, I'm happy with the result!

"But Zeig, I thought your Yokai was going to be your last OC for a long while to come?"
AHAHAHAHA...you thought.
Dēnglong Xiu is the Imperial Wood Synergist for the Imperial Palace of Huangjing - essentially, a fancy way of saying she's the head physician of the palace. She's also rather unique among my OCs in being something of a doormat. She's not quite shy, but she's definitely more awkward than pretty much all of my characters combined. I don't usually play meek or "weak-willed" sorts of characters, but Xiu is definitely on the milder end of the spectrum...even if she does have her moments.

Normally I put the character log artwork of my characters into compilation posts every so often, rather than posting them all separately. But I decided to upload Kakushi's log/post banner by itself, because I really love how this one turned out. I even like it a lot better than the original art I drew of him - there's something about it that just looks both more wolfish and more ethereal/mystical to me.

Heyo forums! Been a little while since I've done one of these, but here's another relationship planning thread for my two most recently approved OCs. As always, here's a bit of background on the both of them:
Yin - Qilin born in a small village in Long Guo. Attended the Fenghuang Monastery for a while in her teenage years, before ending up in Long Kong and joining the Triad "Divine Protectorate." Works as the Grass Slipper of the Triad, which is basically the negotiator and spokesperson for the group.
Kamikakushi no Shinrin - an Okami Yokai who's been around for a long while. Doesn't remember much of his life outside of what he deems "his forest," which is located somewhere between Polohama and Kyoma (more towards the coast). He has a habit of "spiriting away" travelers that enter his forest - basically kidnapping them and keeping them around away from prying eyes for periods of time - but they are always cared for and returned to the forest edge in perfect health. He also has a dual identity as a Neighponese model that goes by the name Okami, who is infamous for not signing any contracts agency and instead just showing up for jobs whenever he feels like it.
As for potential relationship ideas...
Foalhood friends (Yin) - Basically a character that Yin could have met and befriended when she was still small. Only stipulation would be that the other character would have had to visit her hometown from time to time, as part of Yin's personality is dependent on her having been cloistered in her hometown for most of her young life. So no traveling on her end until she left for the Monastery. Childhood friend works best, as Yin would've been too lazy to actively form a negative relationship with anyone (unless said character was mean or insulting towards her brother, then she would very definitely have negative feelings towards them).
Employers (Yin) - Even now as a member of a Triad, Yin will still take the odd job every now and then to pay the bills. Mostly, the jobs are used to get a feel of the area, learn all the current gossip, figure out how the shopkeepers and business ponies feel about the Triads, etc. Doing grunt work is a pretty good way to grab information from innocuous sources, after all. Basically anyone who has any sort of business in Long Kong, or anything that would require some light manual labor, could potentially be an ex- or ongoing employer of Yin.
Victims (Yin) - The Triad is not a nice organization, no matter how it might get glamorized. I'd love it if there were some characters around who were personally victims of Yin's actions working on behalf of the Triad - as in, they got shook up because they'd failed to pay their "protection" fees on time, maybe some of their stock or stored goods got smashed up, or maybe their home ended up being "mysteriously" burned down after they stood up to the Triad the first time. Yin usually doesn't outright threaten others, and doesn't do the whole, "crack knuckles and chuckle ominously and grab shirts to threaten with a pulled back fist", or anything like that. She's entirely casual when she's face-to-face with someone themselves...but her actual retaliations can be felt and seen by everyone.
Rescuer(s) (Kakushi) - Yokai are sometimes hunted and captured and sold as valuable pets, and considering that he is one of the rarer types of Yokai, Kakushi has most definitely had some bad run-ins. He's especially weak against ponies that have access to anti-magical spells or devices, since he's a naturally magical creature. It'd be pretty neat if there was one pony or more who came across some Hunters and a trapped Kakushi and helped set him free - perhaps even helped nurse him back to health if he was severely weakened and far removed from his home forest.
Descendents (Kakushi) - Kakushi is old, old enough to remember a lot of the towns and cities before they became bustling centers of world-wide commerce. I'd love for some characters to be descendants of travelers that he had spirited away once upon a time, which could make for some interesting stories if/when the two ever meet. Maybe your character has a grandfather that everyone believed was crazy because he constantly reminisces about how he was kidnapped and looked after by a wolf when he was a wee lad traveling through Neighpon. Said grandfather could have also been from anywhere in the world and was just visiting Neighpon at the time, so it's not only a Neighponese citizen that could have met Kakushi.
Kidnapees (Kakushi) - In addition to descendants of ponies he's kidnapped, there can be some characters who themselves have been spirited away by him. Basically, anyone who has any reason to have been his forest at some point (either just passing by, or trying to harvest some of the trees, or studying the flora in the area, etc) is up for grabs. He mostly spirits away ponies that hold some interest for him, considering he began doing it to learn more about the pony world, and then later on just for his enjoyment. They're usually kept in his forest for a couple of weeks, sometimes months if he finds them particularly intriguing. If you're interested in your character having been a victim of his at one point, let me know and we'll talk it over - he doesn't spirit away everyone that enters his forest, but the possibility is definitely there.
"Agent" (Kakushi) - Perhaps Kakushi first become discovered by one pony in particular, who either got him a modeling job him/herself, or encouraged Kakushi to get a modeling job. This person would probably end up becoming Kakushi's "agent", in the sense that he's the only one who knows how to get in touch with the model Okami, and gives him info on certain jobs he thinks he would be good for. This character could be almost anyone, whether directly connected to the modeling business (another model, photographer, agency associated, etc) or just a random stranger who ran into a disguised Kakushi, became friends, and first opened up the idea of starting modeling. This character may or may not know that Kakushi is actually a Yokai or not, but at the very least, they would have some sort of system to relay messages back and forth.
...That's all I can think of for the moment. As always, if you have your own plotting ideas when it comes to my characters, please don't hesitate to let me know! I'm not solely confined to these ideas. And of course, if you're interested in having a character or two filling out some of these roles, also let me know! Happy RPing!
(Also, for anyone that's familiar with my Shogun recruitment thread, I'm not promising drawing of characters related to these two, that was sort of a special I had going on just for Ryuichi's associates. But I will say that I do have a tendency to randomly draw characters that I RP with often, just because I get to know them and become more familiar with them than what I just read off a profile. Sooooo...there's always that~)

Do the colors look familiar? They should!
I had originally written Kamikakushi no Shinrin, my Yokai wolf pupper, to be more akin to an isolated spirit that random travelers met when passing through his forest. Originally, he was even too prideful to use a disguise and remained in his true form all the time. But as we all know, WoE is a social area, so unless I planned very specific threads with very specific characters, there really was no point in having an isolated character who always hid himself from others.
So, I did some brainstorming and decided I needed to change some details, while Dio gave me an idea as to what those exact details might be. Thus came about this pony disguise of Kakushi's, an attractive stallion who's become so renowned in the modeling world that he can simply waltz into a studio and model for a bit then walk back out. No one knows how to get in contact with him, but he's always able to take whatever job he wants whenever he deigns to show up. Because of the wolf cutie mark the disguise has, said disguise has gotten himself known as...
*drumroll*
Ōkami.
*regrets nothing!*

Dat preview picture tho...
Newest OC, an Okami Yokai by the name of Kamikakushi no Shinrin (who will probably start going by a nickname of some sort once he meets some ponies, but until then, Kamikakushi no Shinrin it is). Ever since the extended canon species thing started, I had the vague notion of apping a Kitsune. The idea died down quick enough, but randomly resurfaced with a vengeance the other day, and had morphed into an idea for an Okami. I like foxes, but wolves even more so, which is how I began a sketch that eventually morphed into this.
I also wanted to give him a look that wasn't completely wolf, since Yokai are not really animals, so I ended up drawing some inspiration from the Pokemon Suicune and Okami (the video game) for his design. Also kinda realized late that Kamikakushi no Shinrin's tail colors are eerily reminiscent of Yin's, at least the highlighted sections...BUT by the time I realized, it was too late. Ah well, still happy with the way he turned out!

I've been in a kind of strange art mood lately, where I want to draw but don't really know what to draw...until I stumbled across an old RP and this adorable character, where I then proceeded to realize that said character has absolutely no art of him.
Which is, just...awful.
So I set out to rectify that very sad fact! Chipper Demise is a Necromancer who's based off of Henry from Fire Emblem:Awakening. Needless to say, he's very...chipper, despite his profession...or maybe because of it. The outfit was also inspired by the character Chipper's based off of, though I think he usually doesn't wear robes this fine. Maybe this is one of his dress robes?...
Chipper Demise (c) PrinceBlueblood

Soooo...
This is a thing I did for a short while, and then something happened and it kind of fell off the wagon. But, I always felt kind of bad for not answering the last few people and never giving any indication if I was continuing the blog or not. Most of them are probably not active on the site anymore, but, in any case, I decided to go ahead and finish off a few of their questions anyways, just because. And because I got a few more expressions done.
Heeeeeeere we go!
"Well...I mean..." *cue fantasy montage*
Unrealistic daydreams aside...Inkbrand likes mares, so stallions would be right out. But as far as a realistic choice for a lifelong wife, he'd want someone who'll let him do his own thing and be himself, and basically be the most chillax mare in existence.
What he needs though, is a mare that would like him for who he is, but still challenge him to become better. Not demand that he change himself to fit what she wants, of course, but not be so complacent that no change occurs at all. Inkbrand is completely fine with himself as he is, but that doesn't make him the best that he can be. And that doesn't mean that he needs to turn into sunshine and rainbows and puppy dogs, but that's also not to say that he is perfect as is and that he doesn't need to make improvements.
"Uh...."
"I mean yeah, sure, suppose I might. Way off in the future...like, way off, right. Little mini-me running around? Heh, that'd be pretty sweet as. But uh, I dunno. Not really a life goal of mine, 'ya know? If I end up with a foal of my own, I'd...that'd be alright. But if I don't, whelp. S'alright with me."
Basically, Inkbrand's not adverse to the idea of having foals of his own...but that's not something he's actively looking for, either. At least right now.
"You better bucking believe it! I'm in the prime of my life, baby, don't have time to be babysitting foals."
Didn't really have a problem with it not that long ago -
"YEAH well, I mean. Buck, those were special circumstances, and only a couple 'o months. Big difference between a few months and a bucking lifetime."
"Didn't you ask me a question about my love life earlier? You seem pretty interested in it..."
Naw, that was someone else.
"Oh! Well...the flirt still works, buck it."
Funnily enough, most of the mares who chase or swoon over Inkbrand do so in completely roundabout ways. They seem more interested in getting Inkbrand interested in them rather than showing their interest themselves...which makes their interest all the more obvious. More mares (and the RPers who play them) seem to think that having a pretty character, or a mare covered in tattoos, or a mare with a white coat, is enough to catch Inkbrand's attention and make him fall madly in love with the character. And what they'll do is just place their character in his vicinity, thinking that Inkbrand will come bounding over to drool all over them.
So to answer the question more concisely...yes, it is obvious when most mares swoon over Inkbrand. However, they rarely do any chasing themselves, but instead embark on elaborate song and dance steps meant to entice Inkbrand while pretending they aren't interested at all. Which, again, makes their interest all the more blatant.
"They all just wanna play Innocent Schoolfilly to the Big Bad Punk Stallion. Which, 'ya know...I'm okay with."
"Heh-heh. Hopes and dreams, huh?"
"I'll let 'ya in on a little secret, buddy. I'm a simple kind of stallion. I mean sure, I might wanna become the only tattoo artist worth visiting in Equestria and brand a tat onto a royal flank featuring a sun or moon design, but hey. I'm already the Best Bucking Tattoo Artist in Equestria already, so those dreams aren't too far off, right?
And, well...
...yeah."
He's got his hopes and dreams like pretty much everyone else, even if some of them he'd rather not share.
Thanks for reading! Because I made some new expressions I might continue this blog if there is enough of a response for it, but for the most part, I wanted to wrap up some of the questions that people took the time to ask and I never got around to answer. If any of you are still around, hope you enjoyed the Q&A!

People who frequent the Discord server have more than likely already seen these, but I decided to compress all the hooman chibi drawings I've done into a single pic and upload into my gallery. Mostly because they've been fun little quick sketches to do of my characters and others' characters.
So...yeah. Chibi hoomans. Is there anything better? Of course not.
Characters (c) Hasbro, RexDraco, Bellosh, PyroBlaze, Windwright.

Full size is best size!
Been a while since I tried a human!pony, and the previous one doesn't really count since that was more an RP idea. This is more focused on "what does pony look like as human," and I think I pretty much like the end result!
Now that only leaves...sixteen hundred other OCs to humanfy?
...Yeah...yeah, that sounds about right~

"...From this hour henceforth
I pledge to revere all petals,
bask in fragrance, bask in beauty,
and serve forever the Empire of Flowers."
Thus ends the epic ballad of Limi and Mei, who were brought together by sheer happenstance and stayed together through sheer stubbornness, force of will, and mutual acknowledgement of mistakes and faults. The Empire of Flowers will forever stand as a proof of their struggles, their heartaches, and their inevitable journey towards each other.
(And then there's ten years down the road where their trials pale in comparison to the journey of marriage, but no one wants to read about the happily ever after, it's all about the drama of breakups and forgiveness leading up to reconciliation and eventually ending up together. That's what sells them novels and gets movie rights, yo.)
Limi (c) Bellosh

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